Chemistry A' level - the hardest A' level?

[BeingFluffy]

DD1 is starting Sixth Form next term. She is thinking of changing her options to include Chemistry A' level. After spending a couple of weeks on work experience with the Vet, she is seriously considering VetMed again and she needs to take Chemistry to keep her options open.

She is likely to get an A in her Chemistry (and the other sciences) at GCSE but is worried that Chemistry A' level is a lot lot harder and very difficult to get an A or A in. She is a bright girl, but not particularly mathematical.

Can anyone tell me honestly, is a good grade down to sheer hard work or a natural aptitude for the subject or both?

What other A levels is she doing?

My personal view is that it is part aptitude and part hard work.

There is no reason why she cannot achieve a top grade if she is really determined but she will need to enjoy it as well.

VetMed is massively competitive so thinking about other options is a good idea as well.

The attitude of not doing things that might be hard is not a good attitude to have. Encourage her to aim high.

link

Report of slightly old report that looked at this question in massive detail. It confirms your suspicion.

But tbh it doesn't matter. If she wants to achieve something then she needs to go for it. Not doing a subject because it is hard would be giving up on her ambition.

I'm talking about a syllabus from many years ago, and don't know how much things have changed, but I did chem, phys, bio and maths A levels.

If you don't have an aptitude for it, its pretty difficult. The maths component wasn't particularly arduous, so assuming shes heading for a decent GCSE grade, I wouldn't see that being an issue. I was shocked by the lack of mathematical ability when I got to uni and had some lectures with those doing a degree in Chemistry.

From what I can tell from a vet I know, she needs to start getting experience NOW - vets, farms, animal rescue centres - anywhere basically that would involve interactions (normally involving poo!) with animals.

If you look at the following table Percent A level grades by subject you will see that the percentage of students obtaining an A grade in Chemistry is actually higher than some other subjects.
Yes you do need to work hard at Chemistry and have an aptitude for Science and interest in the subject but it is possible for bright students to do well. It is a bit more Mathematical than GCSE and studying Maths to at least AS level does help, as I find that students taking Maths are more likely to obtain the top grades. What other subjects is she going to be studying at A level?

Thank you for your comments.

She won't be taking maths A' level. If she does Chemistry she will also take Biology, English and Latin.

Vet Med, blimey that is about as competitive as it gets.......

My advice would be to make sure your DD keeps completely on top of her work right from day one. Also, if she has the slightest inkling that she doesn't understand some aspect of the course then she should address it straight away. If her teachers are not able to help and, if you can afford it, use a private tutor.

(I guess this advice applies to all A Levels)
I agree that it is important to start work experience as soon as possible as it is hard to get and for VetMed you need a good variety and a lot of it.
If you have not yet started it is a good idea to do as much research as possible now. There are various VetMed taster courses, some are run by the Universities and some are private for-profit courses. They book up quickly so it's best to know what's available. Again, sorry if you are already aware, but the Student Room website is a good source of information ( but double check facts )
Student Room VetMed Thread
VetMed taster Course
taster course
Vet Medlink

Thanks for that.

I am not too worried about the academic bit as if she works(!) she should get the grades. I might think about a tutor from the outset if she is worried about Chemistry. She is still not sure mainly because of the amount she will be in debt when she graduates (we are well over any bursary/grant threshold) and the initial salary is not very high. Money isn't everything but we won't be in a position to help her get together a deposit for a home or anything, so she will have to make her own way in life financially. She will decide when her GCSE results come in and she speaks to the school. She had more or less given up the idea but she really loved her two weeks work experience (at our own vet who is a sole practitioner).

Work experience opportunities are not that great for VetMed in central London! Most places are innundated and only want over 18's. I have another possible vet contact and a relative in Ireland has a dairy farm, so will pursue that. Hoping the school might be able to help with suggesting lab experience! Not sure where to go for lambing or abattoir - just have to ring around I guess. I don't think the taster days count towards the work experience unfortunately.

I am a vet, and just wanted to agree that you can't overstate the importance of work experience - not least because, after doing lots of it, it may help her decide if she really wants to do it or not; and nobody will consider her seriously without at least 10 weeks of it pre application. I grew up in London and managed to get plenty of experience.
Nearly all vets will take students and don't expect them to be over 18, since none of them are; there must be dozens of practices within reach of the tube network, so she could see practice in several different types of small animal practice, including charity clinics, referral centres, etc. You don't need contacts - we have a constant stream of students seeing practice at this time of year, as do most practices I've known.
Boarding kennels/catteries
City farms
Riding stables
your dairy relative in Ireland
you could look for a mixed practice on the rail network somewhere
I think you are unlikely to get abattoir experience, although you could try for a day or so somewhere.
Taster days don't count towards work experience because they are thought of as a measure of parental support in paying for them rather than student initiative. They are, however, very useful in deciding whether the career is what the student really wants.
Chemistry is non-negotiable, unless she goes in via some sort of gateway or access course; but it would be easiest by far to go in via A level Chemistry if possible. If she is at a decent school with good teaching and would struggle with A level chemistry, then she would perhaps struggle with the vet course now - if she is at an underperforming school, there is some flexibility about grades etc in efforts to improve access.

If you look at the following table Percent A level grades by subject you will see that the percentage of students obtaining an A grade in Chemistry is actually higher than some other subjects.

Sorry to contradict crazymum but I don't think that's necessarily a good way to judge difficulty of the subject. Students self-select - Further Maths is the one which best illustrates what I mean - percentages are high, not because the subject's easier but because students don't tend to go for it in the first place unless they think they have a chance at a high grade.

No offence

It's a hell of a lot easier to be a doctor. Are you sure she doesn't want to prod people instead? It's hyper competitive and even straight A*s and months of work experience don't always = a place.

It isn't easier to be a doctor, not these days! Medicine is insanely competitive at the moment - vet med is hard to get into, but not quite as hard right now as human medicine - I think the difference in eventual salaries is having an impact on applications, especially now that uni fees are such a significant issue for these longer courses : (

Used to be harder in my day [old gimmer] because of the restrictions on numbers.

And because of the James Herriot factor back then - agree it was harder than medicine 30 years ago (which is about when I got in, also old gimmer) but times have changed...

AliceInSandwichLand - thank you for taking the time to comment. She is at a super selective school but lost confidence in Chemistry (though she is predicted A* at GCSE) because she didn't warm to the teaching style of the particular teacher. Chemistry has the reputation at her school of being difficult to get an A in.

Re work experience she rang about two dozen practices in addition to the one she had but they are all innundated or have work experience arrangements with certain schools. The charity animal hospital she rang said not to even bother. The other charities just seem to want fundraisers.

The vet she was just with remarked that he doesn't normally do work experience (he is our own vet) but has had many requests this year. So I think contacts are quite a valuable way in. I have another contact via a friend, but will be also looking for a large animal practice that is commutable. A girl at her school who is applying this year, promised her some contacts.

Animal rescue won't consider anyone under 18 to work with animals, neither will city farms - at least in London. She has only just turned 16. The stables I rang only want people who know what they are doing in relation to horses as they don't have staff to supervise or perhaps for those who have booked blocks of lessons which we can't afford right now.

Anyway she will keep plugging away if she decides that is what she wants to do!

Another old gimmer here echoing "self-selection". I did chem, biol and applied maths and I think the chem might've been taxing without the maths, however it wasn't an overly difficult subject overall. It either "is" or it "ain't" - there's not much room for personal interpretation.

Best of luck to her, I'm still holding on to the hope of finding 150k in a carrier bag and going back myself. ;)

Well, the situation is certainly much easier in Surrey, where I live. Which Home County could she commute to from your bit of London?!

We are west London (Notting Hill) and her school is actually South West so anywhere via Clapham Junction i.e. Surrey or Sussex or west (Middlesex or further) via Paddington. If you have any suggestions of places to try I would be most grateful!

2011 UCAS stats. There are more applicants per place offered for medicine than VetMed. I would guess practically every Med and practically every Vet applicant are of an excellent academic standard.

This is a bit of a weird cross-thread recommendation but on this thread the OP just mentioned her DD going on a police dog scheme. Maybe you could ask her about that! If your DD is desperate for any kind of animal related work exp would that be useful?

I am not sure how it works with abbatoirs these days but can you accompany a Meat Inspector rather than a vet, it might be easier to find a placement and you would be looking at similar things. I know there have been changes in responsibilities for hygiene etc in abbatoirs so I don't actually know the current situation, but maybe worth finding out from someone who knows. ie not me

Certainly when I did my abattoir work, you just applied to the abattoir - but I think they are reluctant to take school pupils now because of undercover filming by animal rights activitists.
With regard to work experience: I would look for practices within walking distance of stations you can get to via Clapham Junction, then. For example, there is one on Grand Drive in Raynes Park, near the station - don't know it at all myself - two within walking distance of the station in Woking (some trains go there directly from CJ), one within a longish walk of the station in Guildford, one near Wimbledon Park tube, one very close to the station at East Horsley, one near the station at Thames Ditton... not sure how many of these will take WE people, but worth a try somewhere out of London if in London is no good. My practice is too far away and nowhere near a train, sorry.
Farming: I got farm work by advertising in Farmer's Weekly, but that was many years ago. You could try a thread on Mumsnet - there are farmers here!
What about dog and cat breeders? There must be lots of them in London; maybe your local practice could suggest breeders among their clients. I did a week in a kennel when I was about sixteen, which was really good experience. What about Harrods' pet shop? Don't know if they take anyone, but you could ask... there are various wildlife sanctuaries in Surrey and Berkshire, but I don't know how many are near public transport, but you could research it a bit, maybe?
you can tell I'm bored while my husband watches Olympic boxing ; )

Thank you all for your comprehensive replies and ideas!

A student who is predicted A* for Chemistry (and other Sciences) at GCSE really shouldn't be worried about Chemistry being harder at A level!
But if the school hasn't had many A grades over the past few years and she has had problems with her GCSE teacher then I would possibly consider extra tuition or trying to work out if there was a problem with chemistry at this school.
I would also double check that the proposed A level choices would be acceptable by universities as well. Have checked the website for my local university (Bristol) and they specify Chemistry, Biology and one other academic subject at A2 level. They also specify 6 A*/A grades at GCSE as well.
For medical school most students do also take A level Maths. Some schools may offer Maths tuition to students studying Science A level anyway, but I would see what the school advise. I would say that taking Maths A level boosts grades in Chemistry by one grade - but at the end of the day this is your dds decision.

Chemistry isn't an easy option but actually becomes very interesting at A-level. I chose it because in my school you had to do it to do Biology (not sure why!) and actually it ended up being my favourite subject!

As an aside, my 3rd year chem teacher didn't even want me to take triple science as a GCSE option and yet I went on to do a chemistry based degree and masters